On the Road With Team Coco
A concentrated 89 minutes of Conan O’Brien’s signature humor and improvised wackiness. What more could you want?
How about an inside look into Conan’s private life, zany antics with co-host Andy Richter, and a rocking musical tour across America?
As was highly discussed in the press, on June 1, 2009, Conan replaced Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show on NBC. Yet on January 22, 2010, his time on The Tonight Show had already come to an end.
In response, a millions-strong Internet-based legion of fans rose up to form Team Coco—supporters of all things Conan O’Brien.
This documentary assumes you already know who Conan O’Brien is, and so it jumps right into the aftermath of his falling out with NBC.
As part of his severance package, Conan is forbidden to appear on television or the Internet. So what is Conan left to do?
Overcome with contempt for the NBC executives, and reeling in personal turmoil, Conan still feels the need to express himself and hear the applause from his fans. From within that unique situation, he decides to launch the “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour” in ironic compliance with the legal stipulations.
As seen in the film, Conan announces the tour dates and venues on Twitter to his followers. The result: Tickets sell out in multiple venues within 20 minutes.
The only problem is that now he has to create a show and go on tour.
On the road, Conan travels with Andy Richter to his first show in Eugene, Oregon. Alongside them is his entire (former) Tonight Show Band, along with Conan’s personal assistant and long-time staff. Further onward to Vegas, then Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York—and 32 cities in all.
All the while, Conan comes to grips with who he is as a person and a performer. Is he on stage for the fans, or for himself?
While in each city, Conan teams up with celebrities for improvisational rifts on stage. This includes Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, Jack White (of The White Stripes), Jack Black and his brother (from Tenacious D), and even Jim Carrey.
The fandom and adoration is as much a character in this story as Conan himself. Conan plays to the audience’s every whim, and they eat out of his hand like puppies rewarded with a treat. Hundreds wait outside the theater for the mere chance of a signature, as if he were one of the Beatles, screaming with girlish delight when he decides to appease.
Conan appears dual-natured. He enduringly meets with thousands of fans and plays show after show with passion and humor. He simultaneously displays his immaturity and childish side as he plays verbal games and abuses his on-tour staff with psychological jokes. The resulting combination is absolute hilarity caught on film.
Providing insight into the personality of a network superstar, Conan shows himself to be a man who lives for applause, needs to be on stage, and dies inside without the attention from his adoring Team Coco fans.
With this attention he flourishes, escalating into a living embodiment of emotion, flailing limbs, and musical romps. It seems that he’s never had so much enjoyment. Conan is clearly at his best while on tour.
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop is a film about Conan reconnecting with his fans, and it’s also about Conan reconnecting with himself—a performer who has no choice but to perform.
[etRating value=“ 4”]
